Back in San Antonio once again! The goodbyes were tearful, the travel uneventful. Only once were we stopped by the federales, but when the camo-dressed man with an enormous gun put a question to Dad, he responded with, "No hable español, much, er, mucho..." Which, when translated means, "You don't speak much Spanish." The federale kind of grinned at Dad and rolled his eyes, waving him on. Way to play the gringo card, Dad!
Getting through the border was no problem at all. Jamie is still feeling a bit under the weather, but other than that we are all doing well. Thanks, everyone, for praying for us!
Our purposes in going on this trip are first of all to glorify God, to refresh the saints, to give aid where directed, and to plant and harvest fruit for the Kingdom. If all of these are accomplished, we feel the trip is successful. Whether we had fun is not a crucial factor, although we most certainly did. Whether we accomplished our plans is not important. Our success or failure on the trip is not measured by what we did or what happened, but by WHO was the Author and Finisher. We are missionaries wherever we go, not because we do mission-type activities, but because we carry in these earthly vessels the incomparable treasure of knowing Christ. This is the gift we share with the lost and hurting people of the world. If we fail, it is only because we lost connection to the Head, from which all things come.
I pray the Lord richly blesses you for your prayers. You are demonstrating the depth of your love for Christ by keeping his command to "pray for laborers." It is a job that will never be completed until the final triumphant day of the Lord's return. May we all endure until He returns!
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Friday, October 24, 2008
Our grand adventure began with a leisurely morning. We slept in, arising to the smell of sticky buns cooking in the oven. Mmmmm! “Do you want some coffee?” Mom, armed with her stovetop espresso makers (two of them) is ready, willing and able to serve you up delightfully flavored lattes and other custom drinks.
Zelina is cooking up a storm, as usual. Bless her heart! We’re so glad she gets to come with us today.
The workers started digging to lay the foundation for Kriss’ house today. Each one of the DeHoyos children has a bit of property on the land they own. You can see Kriss’ property out the kitchen window. We took a virtual walk-through, even though there was only just spray paint and little strings to mark out the different rooms. I can’t wait to see it finished!
Dickmar came and we left around 11 for Monterrey. He had an important dinner with the mayor at 6 that he had to be back for, so he drove separately from the van.
Our first stop (other than a pit stop at Seven Eleven…yes they do have those down here!) was the caverns at Garcia, just outside of Monterrey. We rode a suspended cable car up the side of the steep mountain face to the entrance of the caves. Inside, we followed a winding path through marvelous and towering stalactites and stalagmites. Over the many years, they formed into intricate shapes such as a camel, donkey, gorilla, lion and even the face of the crucified Christ. That last one might be because the Catholic influence, as there was also a little shrine to our Lady Guadalupe on the way out.
The drive from the caverns to Monterrey took about hour. We stopped at Wal-Mart for more vanilla and some hot sauce…very necessary staples! Also, we made several stops at several Home Depots for supplies for the roof-repair job at the DeHoyos. Unfortunately, all the places we tried were either out of stock, or didn’t carry what we were looking for.
Dinner was at Los Generales, a Mexican buffet that serves delicious and traditional dishes. We drank tamarindo, a common flavor in Mexico that we can’t get in the states. The fruit itself is sour, but the flavor in drinks and desserts is sweet and delicious. How can I describe it? It kind of reminds me of figs, but with cinnamon. ☺
After the delicious feast, we headed downtown for a stroll on the Riverwalk. The walk was beautifully lit, and there were many music groups playing, due to the festival of Santa Lucia. Not to be confused with the same saint that wears candles in her hair and delivers sweet bread at Christmas time, it is a festival for the city of Monterrey, which is the origin of the Santa Lucia River. We stopped to watch a show with fireworks and a lot of amazing dancing. What a spectacular way to end an amazing week!
Zelina is cooking up a storm, as usual. Bless her heart! We’re so glad she gets to come with us today.
The workers started digging to lay the foundation for Kriss’ house today. Each one of the DeHoyos children has a bit of property on the land they own. You can see Kriss’ property out the kitchen window. We took a virtual walk-through, even though there was only just spray paint and little strings to mark out the different rooms. I can’t wait to see it finished!
Dickmar came and we left around 11 for Monterrey. He had an important dinner with the mayor at 6 that he had to be back for, so he drove separately from the van.
Our first stop (other than a pit stop at Seven Eleven…yes they do have those down here!) was the caverns at Garcia, just outside of Monterrey. We rode a suspended cable car up the side of the steep mountain face to the entrance of the caves. Inside, we followed a winding path through marvelous and towering stalactites and stalagmites. Over the many years, they formed into intricate shapes such as a camel, donkey, gorilla, lion and even the face of the crucified Christ. That last one might be because the Catholic influence, as there was also a little shrine to our Lady Guadalupe on the way out.
The drive from the caverns to Monterrey took about hour. We stopped at Wal-Mart for more vanilla and some hot sauce…very necessary staples! Also, we made several stops at several Home Depots for supplies for the roof-repair job at the DeHoyos. Unfortunately, all the places we tried were either out of stock, or didn’t carry what we were looking for.
Dinner was at Los Generales, a Mexican buffet that serves delicious and traditional dishes. We drank tamarindo, a common flavor in Mexico that we can’t get in the states. The fruit itself is sour, but the flavor in drinks and desserts is sweet and delicious. How can I describe it? It kind of reminds me of figs, but with cinnamon. ☺
After the delicious feast, we headed downtown for a stroll on the Riverwalk. The walk was beautifully lit, and there were many music groups playing, due to the festival of Santa Lucia. Not to be confused with the same saint that wears candles in her hair and delivers sweet bread at Christmas time, it is a festival for the city of Monterrey, which is the origin of the Santa Lucia River. We stopped to watch a show with fireworks and a lot of amazing dancing. What a spectacular way to end an amazing week!
Friday, October 24, 2008
Thursday, October 23, 2008
It’s our last clinic day today. This realization, coupled with the fact that this trip has gone by entirely too fast, hit me this morning. Aaaak! That, and I think that the schedule of late nights and early mornings has been catching up with me. Ugh! It took me only a short while to discover that today would be difficult attitude-wise as well. Petty little nothing things were annoying me to death. I could see it happening, and it frustrated me, but Lily helped by laughing at me, helping me to laugh at myself.
Over the lunch break today, we had our first "official" Spanish lesson with Profesor DeHoyos. We learned about yo, tu, ello/ella, ellos/ellas, and nosotros, as well as the changes to the verb endings. Lots of helpful stuff, and lots of laughing. I'd take Alfredo for a school teacher any day!
We saw 41 patients today! That has got to be a record, or close to it, especially with only one doc. Dad says a normal day in the office for him at home is like 12-15 patients. Of course, the count of patients includes cleanings, which Dad didn’t do, and doesn’t do at home either. Still, that’s a lot of people! I think a lot of it is due to the excellent way mom handles her receptionist job. She’s real tough when she needs to be, but a softie when it comes to closing down the clinic…”Can’t we just see one more?”
Dad just grins, “Bring ‘em on.”
When we returned from lunch, we were delighted to see how many people were waiting for us! Lots of kids! Yay!! ☺ During one of my breaks from assisting, I gathered a bunch of the kids waiting for treatment and showed them the photo booth program on Jamie’s computer. They had a blast with the picture distortion features. “Look, I have two heads!” “I’m a one-eyed monster!” (rough translation) A little later, Joe and Dany went out and told a story. Dany translated, while Joe shared the gospel and his testimony. I was so proud of both of them!! Oh, and Jamie did her ever-popular Frisbee-chasing dog story. Always a hit!
The sterilizer kind of malfunctioned, so we had a backlog of instruments waiting to be cleaned, which means the hygienists had to get a little creative towards the end of the afternoon. It seemed like barely any time had passed, and we were finishing up the last two patients. Clean-up went as normal, without too many mishaps. I only spilled ONE box of crowns…whoops! DIF workers brought us cokes and cookies again … Lord, bless those DIF ladies!!
Jamie and I power walked our loop again before dinner. The sky turned cloudy, and the air thick and humid. We hoped it wasn’t going to rain, because Joby and Josue had just taken part of the roof off to repair it. It’s just a spot over the porch, but still! It started to get dark just as we arrived back at the house.
I think we are hooked on Sequence. We seriously played like 6 games, but split up the lovebirds. ;) Poor Joby and Paula, they didn’t win even one game last time! The ultimate winners of the evening turned out to be Lily and Paula. Rejoicing in spirit, we drifted off to sleep, excited for our day off and trip to Monterrey the following day.
Over the lunch break today, we had our first "official" Spanish lesson with Profesor DeHoyos. We learned about yo, tu, ello/ella, ellos/ellas, and nosotros, as well as the changes to the verb endings. Lots of helpful stuff, and lots of laughing. I'd take Alfredo for a school teacher any day!
We saw 41 patients today! That has got to be a record, or close to it, especially with only one doc. Dad says a normal day in the office for him at home is like 12-15 patients. Of course, the count of patients includes cleanings, which Dad didn’t do, and doesn’t do at home either. Still, that’s a lot of people! I think a lot of it is due to the excellent way mom handles her receptionist job. She’s real tough when she needs to be, but a softie when it comes to closing down the clinic…”Can’t we just see one more?”
Dad just grins, “Bring ‘em on.”
When we returned from lunch, we were delighted to see how many people were waiting for us! Lots of kids! Yay!! ☺ During one of my breaks from assisting, I gathered a bunch of the kids waiting for treatment and showed them the photo booth program on Jamie’s computer. They had a blast with the picture distortion features. “Look, I have two heads!” “I’m a one-eyed monster!” (rough translation) A little later, Joe and Dany went out and told a story. Dany translated, while Joe shared the gospel and his testimony. I was so proud of both of them!! Oh, and Jamie did her ever-popular Frisbee-chasing dog story. Always a hit!
The sterilizer kind of malfunctioned, so we had a backlog of instruments waiting to be cleaned, which means the hygienists had to get a little creative towards the end of the afternoon. It seemed like barely any time had passed, and we were finishing up the last two patients. Clean-up went as normal, without too many mishaps. I only spilled ONE box of crowns…whoops! DIF workers brought us cokes and cookies again … Lord, bless those DIF ladies!!
Jamie and I power walked our loop again before dinner. The sky turned cloudy, and the air thick and humid. We hoped it wasn’t going to rain, because Joby and Josue had just taken part of the roof off to repair it. It’s just a spot over the porch, but still! It started to get dark just as we arrived back at the house.
I think we are hooked on Sequence. We seriously played like 6 games, but split up the lovebirds. ;) Poor Joby and Paula, they didn’t win even one game last time! The ultimate winners of the evening turned out to be Lily and Paula. Rejoicing in spirit, we drifted off to sleep, excited for our day off and trip to Monterrey the following day.
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Wednesday continued ...
Hopping in the van, we headed for home while a small contingent took a detour to the “Indiana Jones Bridge” on the way. The bridge, thus titled due to its sketchy construction, is a suspension bridge for walkers and cyclists. It spans the main river in Hualahuises, and is not in use much any more due to the recent construction of a new (and sturdier) bridge. Then new bridge is anchored to cement, instead of cabled to trees, and is wider, accommodating more traffic.
Marvelous smells of Zelina’s cooking wafted from the kitchen, greeting us as we arrived back at the house. Since the food wasn’t quite ready, some went directly for naps, others on walks. Jamie, Leanne, and I went for a run around the nearly 3-mile loop that starts and ends at the De Hoyos hacienda. Grateful for the bit of “sister time” in between the busy-ness, we chatted the whole way, stopping to greet the other walkers and runners we saw. Goodness! I didn’t know Hualahuises was so fitness-savvy!!
Kriss has a new job teaching for a 2 and 4 year old. Every weekday from 1-5 she runs classes in their home. We met her students when they came out to the clinic at the church on Tuesday. They are so cute!! The family who employs her also allows her use of their laptop, an Apple ibook. Kriss wanted some help knowing how to navigate a mac, and we worked a while on customizing her desktop, and just enjoying each other’s company. Because she was in school in Dallas for so long, we had been missing her during our recent trips. This trip has been good for re-connecting, especially for me. Kriss and I are the same age, and have similar personalities.
One of the traditions we began years ago is baking tasty treats, sharing some of our favorite cookie and dessert recipes. Tonight, the gang baked 7-layer bars, dubbed “Seven Sins” bars by Mr. DeHoyos. Delish!
Marvelous smells of Zelina’s cooking wafted from the kitchen, greeting us as we arrived back at the house. Since the food wasn’t quite ready, some went directly for naps, others on walks. Jamie, Leanne, and I went for a run around the nearly 3-mile loop that starts and ends at the De Hoyos hacienda. Grateful for the bit of “sister time” in between the busy-ness, we chatted the whole way, stopping to greet the other walkers and runners we saw. Goodness! I didn’t know Hualahuises was so fitness-savvy!!
Kriss has a new job teaching for a 2 and 4 year old. Every weekday from 1-5 she runs classes in their home. We met her students when they came out to the clinic at the church on Tuesday. They are so cute!! The family who employs her also allows her use of their laptop, an Apple ibook. Kriss wanted some help knowing how to navigate a mac, and we worked a while on customizing her desktop, and just enjoying each other’s company. Because she was in school in Dallas for so long, we had been missing her during our recent trips. This trip has been good for re-connecting, especially for me. Kriss and I are the same age, and have similar personalities.
One of the traditions we began years ago is baking tasty treats, sharing some of our favorite cookie and dessert recipes. Tonight, the gang baked 7-layer bars, dubbed “Seven Sins” bars by Mr. DeHoyos. Delish!
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
I’m sitting now on a 2-foot stage at one end of the room where we set up our clinic. Harp music floats through the air as dad busily works at pulling a tooth with Paula’s assistance. This spacious, air-conditioned building sits in a place once occupied by a courtyard, but since it never really grew grass well, I think the building much improves the place. Six vents in the ceiling pump out a steady stream of cool air, and the windows lining the length of both walls let in plenty of natural light without extra heat.
After the initial excitement of setting up the clinic, a kind of fatigue settled over everyone. Some were sniffling … I think we brought a cold down with us. In spite of tiredness and colds being an obstacle, we were all happy, and turned to encouraging one another with jokes and jibes. Dad’s corniness started to come out … you gotta love Dad’s puns! They are about as punny as they come!
With the Mayor of Hualahuises. It was a promo photo. :D
The first two patients of the morning were some of the most difficult. Definitely more difficult than anything the first two days! First, I assisted Dad with a root canal, a complex procedure requiring a swiss army load of equipment to pull off. Almost an hour later we were finishing up treatment with our first patient, and Dad started to be concerned, feeling like he was getting behind.
Our next patient needed an extraction. It was my first time assisting for an extraction, a procedure I usually try to avoid if I can. However, no one else was available, so I took a deep breath and tried to collect my nerves. After unsuccessfully trying to suction while positioning myself so I couldn’t see anything, I began to realize that Dad was having trouble. (You might want to skip to the next paragraph if you are squeamish. If I was reading this, I’d skip this next part…) First, there was a lot of blood. Also, the burr dad was using in the drill was dull, and no matter what he tried, he couldn’t get the tooth to loosen. My suction hose had a small tip, which I had to keep clearing with water to keep it from getting clogged. Dad moved from humming to singing, then praying out loud. (For those of you who know Dad, you know that when he gets to the point singing, it’s a tough one!) When the tooth finally began to wiggle, we both relaxed. “As long as it moves, I can get it out.”
Another hour passed, and we finished our second patient of the morning. We only saw two more before breaking for lunch, but we know that our success does not lie in numbers, but in the work God is doing that maybe we don’t even know about. When the time came for lunch, we rejoiced at the opportunity for a well-deserved rest.
During lunch, Mr. DeHoyos had me pull up a group on You Tube called Mariachi Vargas. What a fun show, and those guys know their stuff! The piece was called “Violin Huapango.” You should look it up if you have a chance! This mariachi band is probably the best in the world, and they are based out of Monterrey, Mexico!
Jamie stayed back to rest, so Joby and I took over the x-ray department for the first part of the afternoon. Things were going great, until we realized we had a little confusion with the order of patients. When we arrived in the morning, the DIF gave a pre-made list with names, a numbered order, and what kind of treatment they wanted. The difficulty came when I started to call numbers to take the x-rays. I realized there were two sets of numbers, one for the morning, and one for the afternoon. The numbers went 1-20 for the morning and began again at 1 for the afternoon group. We saw so few patients in the morning that the ones we didn’t treat stayed on for the afternoon, causing confusion with the new patients coming in. Fortunately the DIF workers were very understanding and flexible, and we soon resolved the problem and a new numbering system.
Towards the end of the day, we realized that the placement of our chairs put our patients directly in the sun from about 4:30 on. (and what is the problem with sunlight???) ☺ Another problem easily remedied by moving the chairs back a couple feet, much to the relief of our patients. About 30 minutes before we closed for the day, the DIF workers brought cold cokes … mmm! I tell you, NOTHING tastes better than a cold coke at the end of a looooong clinic day!
After the initial excitement of setting up the clinic, a kind of fatigue settled over everyone. Some were sniffling … I think we brought a cold down with us. In spite of tiredness and colds being an obstacle, we were all happy, and turned to encouraging one another with jokes and jibes. Dad’s corniness started to come out … you gotta love Dad’s puns! They are about as punny as they come!
With the Mayor of Hualahuises. It was a promo photo. :D
The first two patients of the morning were some of the most difficult. Definitely more difficult than anything the first two days! First, I assisted Dad with a root canal, a complex procedure requiring a swiss army load of equipment to pull off. Almost an hour later we were finishing up treatment with our first patient, and Dad started to be concerned, feeling like he was getting behind.
Our next patient needed an extraction. It was my first time assisting for an extraction, a procedure I usually try to avoid if I can. However, no one else was available, so I took a deep breath and tried to collect my nerves. After unsuccessfully trying to suction while positioning myself so I couldn’t see anything, I began to realize that Dad was having trouble. (You might want to skip to the next paragraph if you are squeamish. If I was reading this, I’d skip this next part…) First, there was a lot of blood. Also, the burr dad was using in the drill was dull, and no matter what he tried, he couldn’t get the tooth to loosen. My suction hose had a small tip, which I had to keep clearing with water to keep it from getting clogged. Dad moved from humming to singing, then praying out loud. (For those of you who know Dad, you know that when he gets to the point singing, it’s a tough one!) When the tooth finally began to wiggle, we both relaxed. “As long as it moves, I can get it out.”
Another hour passed, and we finished our second patient of the morning. We only saw two more before breaking for lunch, but we know that our success does not lie in numbers, but in the work God is doing that maybe we don’t even know about. When the time came for lunch, we rejoiced at the opportunity for a well-deserved rest.
During lunch, Mr. DeHoyos had me pull up a group on You Tube called Mariachi Vargas. What a fun show, and those guys know their stuff! The piece was called “Violin Huapango.” You should look it up if you have a chance! This mariachi band is probably the best in the world, and they are based out of Monterrey, Mexico!
Jamie stayed back to rest, so Joby and I took over the x-ray department for the first part of the afternoon. Things were going great, until we realized we had a little confusion with the order of patients. When we arrived in the morning, the DIF gave a pre-made list with names, a numbered order, and what kind of treatment they wanted. The difficulty came when I started to call numbers to take the x-rays. I realized there were two sets of numbers, one for the morning, and one for the afternoon. The numbers went 1-20 for the morning and began again at 1 for the afternoon group. We saw so few patients in the morning that the ones we didn’t treat stayed on for the afternoon, causing confusion with the new patients coming in. Fortunately the DIF workers were very understanding and flexible, and we soon resolved the problem and a new numbering system.
Towards the end of the day, we realized that the placement of our chairs put our patients directly in the sun from about 4:30 on. (and what is the problem with sunlight???) ☺ Another problem easily remedied by moving the chairs back a couple feet, much to the relief of our patients. About 30 minutes before we closed for the day, the DIF workers brought cold cokes … mmm! I tell you, NOTHING tastes better than a cold coke at the end of a looooong clinic day!
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Tuesday Pics
We had a neat system for organizing x-rays ... that is, until the wind came along ... :P
Mom is an amazing receptionist!
Cleaning up the clinic
More packing
Hey, watch where you're pointing that thing!
Awwww.
Softball was a blast!!!
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Dad leads us in morning devotions each day of the trip. The theme of the devotions for this trip is “Tales of the Kingdom.” We had a good time discussing the parables Jesus taught about the Kingdom of Heaven, especially the word picture of the wheat and the tares. Dickmar shared that he had heard one teaching comparing them to the works we have done on earth. We never know which ones God will throw into the fire, and which ones will stand the test of eternity. Digging through the Word together has been so refreshing and encouraging.
One difference in holding the clinic where we can see it from the window of the house, is that we saw our patients driving up as we finished eating breakfast. Hurry up guys! We were ready for the day, and so were the orphans. We did a lot of fillings, and a few extractions.
One funny story from the day ... I was assisting Dad with an extraction. Everything was going fine. The girl cried a little during the injection, but bravely made it through. Dad had just finished drilling the tooth out when the girl started shrieking. She had been watching Dad dad work in a small hand mirror, so we thought something about her filling might have scared her. Then she pointed up at the light, and we saw the cause of her panic. A small brown spider was crawling around on the light. Startled, I jumped back and dropped the suction hose I had been holding, while dad leaped up and shook the spider from the light. (I don't know who is more arachnaphobic, Dad or his daughters...it's a toss-up.) In a heroic effort, he knocked it to the floor and squished it. We all caught our breath...and laughed at the hilarity of the situations.
Mr. DeHoyos and Dany have been giving us Spanish lessons. It's great, and we are enthusiastic and motivated students. Who knows, we could be bilingual yet! ¿Cual es de material de la mesa?
We saw two older ladies towards the end of the day. They were very grateful for the help, and told Josue that although they could never repay the good work that was done for them, they would pray for he and Joby that God would bring beautiful and godly girls to be their wives. Josue told them that their prayers for Joby were already answered, but that they could pray double for him!! :D
A wonderful day at the clinic ended in packing up the equipment into the trailer. Finished with the breezy church building, we were relocating to the DIF, the health building of the city, on the following day. Joby and Josue, who had been building shelves at the orphanage all day, came to help us load the trailer. Every trip we get faster at packing and unpacking the equipment, and I think we got it done in 30 minutes this time!
We were excited for the evening, because Dickmar told us he had informed some friends that he brought some Americans to play softball. Dickmar now plays on a league, more for fun than for anything else. His team is very close to the bottom, but what they lack in skills they make up for in spirit! When we got to the ball park, we were a bit intimidated. We were the only girls there, and we really have no experience in softball. Soccer maybe we could hold our own, even volleyball we could make out okay, but softball was way out of our "league." ;) Luckily they were still having practice in the main part, and we practiced our throwing. Joby taught us how to throw so we wouldn't look like girls, and pretty soon everyone showed up. We gathered in the middle and Josue divided us into two teams. In spite of the complete lack of skills, which actually provided some comedy for the evening, "Hit it between Isaac and Dany!" we had a blast, and were sorry to see the game come to an end.
The parents enjoyed a quiet meal at home while we were at the ball park, and lively conversation with Lindolfo Delgado and his wife. Lindolfo is one of the church members, and has an amazing sense of humor. He calls himself the "man of two lies," as his first name comes from the Spanish word, "lindo" which means, "pretty," and his last name means "skinny," a trait for which he fulfills exactly the opposite description. ;)
We enjoyed another evening of sequence, and just sharing about life. It's so fun to laugh, and we all keep each other in stitches constantly!
One difference in holding the clinic where we can see it from the window of the house, is that we saw our patients driving up as we finished eating breakfast. Hurry up guys! We were ready for the day, and so were the orphans. We did a lot of fillings, and a few extractions.
One funny story from the day ... I was assisting Dad with an extraction. Everything was going fine. The girl cried a little during the injection, but bravely made it through. Dad had just finished drilling the tooth out when the girl started shrieking. She had been watching Dad dad work in a small hand mirror, so we thought something about her filling might have scared her. Then she pointed up at the light, and we saw the cause of her panic. A small brown spider was crawling around on the light. Startled, I jumped back and dropped the suction hose I had been holding, while dad leaped up and shook the spider from the light. (I don't know who is more arachnaphobic, Dad or his daughters...it's a toss-up.) In a heroic effort, he knocked it to the floor and squished it. We all caught our breath...and laughed at the hilarity of the situations.
Mr. DeHoyos and Dany have been giving us Spanish lessons. It's great, and we are enthusiastic and motivated students. Who knows, we could be bilingual yet! ¿Cual es de material de la mesa?
We saw two older ladies towards the end of the day. They were very grateful for the help, and told Josue that although they could never repay the good work that was done for them, they would pray for he and Joby that God would bring beautiful and godly girls to be their wives. Josue told them that their prayers for Joby were already answered, but that they could pray double for him!! :D
A wonderful day at the clinic ended in packing up the equipment into the trailer. Finished with the breezy church building, we were relocating to the DIF, the health building of the city, on the following day. Joby and Josue, who had been building shelves at the orphanage all day, came to help us load the trailer. Every trip we get faster at packing and unpacking the equipment, and I think we got it done in 30 minutes this time!
We were excited for the evening, because Dickmar told us he had informed some friends that he brought some Americans to play softball. Dickmar now plays on a league, more for fun than for anything else. His team is very close to the bottom, but what they lack in skills they make up for in spirit! When we got to the ball park, we were a bit intimidated. We were the only girls there, and we really have no experience in softball. Soccer maybe we could hold our own, even volleyball we could make out okay, but softball was way out of our "league." ;) Luckily they were still having practice in the main part, and we practiced our throwing. Joby taught us how to throw so we wouldn't look like girls, and pretty soon everyone showed up. We gathered in the middle and Josue divided us into two teams. In spite of the complete lack of skills, which actually provided some comedy for the evening, "Hit it between Isaac and Dany!" we had a blast, and were sorry to see the game come to an end.
The parents enjoyed a quiet meal at home while we were at the ball park, and lively conversation with Lindolfo Delgado and his wife. Lindolfo is one of the church members, and has an amazing sense of humor. He calls himself the "man of two lies," as his first name comes from the Spanish word, "lindo" which means, "pretty," and his last name means "skinny," a trait for which he fulfills exactly the opposite description. ;)
We enjoyed another evening of sequence, and just sharing about life. It's so fun to laugh, and we all keep each other in stitches constantly!
Monday, October 20, 2008
First clinic day!! The church was swept and cleaned, and a neat little pathway cut through the prolific weeds. Dad and Joby hitched the trailer, and Isaac was instructed to be the “hitch angel” as we pulled it the less than quarter mile from the De Hoyos’ house to the church building where we would set up the clinic. He rode the hitch until it “popped” into place, then clambered onto the back of the van. Joe jumped on, and somehow in the interim, the trailer bolted free. Joby ran to help hook it up again, and rode the rest of the way. We had three hitch angels!! Talk about a blessed little trailer!
Many parts of the clinic mean many hands are needed, and we all helped to pull the boxes from the trailer and set up all the chairs, tables, and other various equipment which I will not detail here. The plan for the day was to start a bit later, take a late lunch, and work late enough that the church members with jobs could get off work and make it to the clinic. It was so nice to be so close to our home away from home as we worked, but the one complication was the distance to the bathroom. It turned out to be a blessing in disguise however, because a trip to the bathroom included a relaxing quarter-mile walk in the sunshine. =)
Our first patients of the day were a crew from the local “orfanato” or orphanage. It was a crew of mostly 9-13 year old boys and a few younger girls. We fell in love with them. There were a few especially inquisitive ones, but it was a delight to engage them in conversation. When you only know a little bit of Spanish, it is much easier to talk to a child. They are far less intimidating and extremely forgiving. Miram was one of those who was confident, curious, and super outgoing. We taught the little girls the proper way to brush and floss, and let them try on a huge plastic model we brought along for such purposes.
We settled into a routine quickly, each with jobs in our particular capacities. Dad, our clinic director and general everything man. Paula tackled the difficult cleanings ... “Dad, this lady is a class 5!” (That was for you, Shay!) As well as following up Dad’s drill job by filling teeth. Mom ran the reception notebook and kept patients flowing in and out at a steady rate. Jamie is our resident x-ray technician. She does best at the language when she can learn a few phrases and repeat them ad nauseum. In spite of this, she is excellent at what she does, no doubt! Jamie is also one of the first people that most of our patients interact with, so with her enthusiastic ways and radiant smile, she wins them over from the get-go. We are so grateful also to have Leslie with us, first because of her recent scare with the headache-slash-surgery, but also because she is our “Jeffa” (lady-boss) of the sterilization department. A little-known fact about Leslie is that she is also the DJ of the clinic, and keeps us humming (literally) to all the catchy tunes pumping out of her little blue and sliver stereo. Lily is comic relief … j/k! She works hard doing polishing … most of the cleanings are completed with her expertise. The 3 Amigos, Joe, Isaac, and Dany, hang out and are available for whatever is needed at the time. Dany does the bulk of the translating for the clinic, and knows more about dental procedures than your typical 11-year-old. I, Dena am extremely happy filling my role as support person for the team. My common summons these days .. “Dena, I need some suction!” and I hop-to! ;) I now pause in the writing of this blog to respond to the call …
The schedule worked out like a dream. Jamie and Zelina were a welcome sight bringing snacks around noon, and we rotated through taking short breaks in between fillings and cleanings. The gusts wind that had bombarded us in the morning abated later in the day to an occasional pleasant breeze. We were able to see some of the De Hoyos family in the clinic this day too, which is great because they are the ones that do all the work to bring us down and host us. Here’s a shout-out to our Mexican family! We love you guys!
It was a full day of work, but the time slipped by quickly until it was time to say, “Adios” until the mañana. Those of us who still had energy to burn went on a run. We had a good time of fellowship in the evening, walking under the stars, talking about life, and playing sequence until we could barely keep our eyelids propped open.
Many parts of the clinic mean many hands are needed, and we all helped to pull the boxes from the trailer and set up all the chairs, tables, and other various equipment which I will not detail here. The plan for the day was to start a bit later, take a late lunch, and work late enough that the church members with jobs could get off work and make it to the clinic. It was so nice to be so close to our home away from home as we worked, but the one complication was the distance to the bathroom. It turned out to be a blessing in disguise however, because a trip to the bathroom included a relaxing quarter-mile walk in the sunshine. =)
Our first patients of the day were a crew from the local “orfanato” or orphanage. It was a crew of mostly 9-13 year old boys and a few younger girls. We fell in love with them. There were a few especially inquisitive ones, but it was a delight to engage them in conversation. When you only know a little bit of Spanish, it is much easier to talk to a child. They are far less intimidating and extremely forgiving. Miram was one of those who was confident, curious, and super outgoing. We taught the little girls the proper way to brush and floss, and let them try on a huge plastic model we brought along for such purposes.
We settled into a routine quickly, each with jobs in our particular capacities. Dad, our clinic director and general everything man. Paula tackled the difficult cleanings ... “Dad, this lady is a class 5!” (That was for you, Shay!) As well as following up Dad’s drill job by filling teeth. Mom ran the reception notebook and kept patients flowing in and out at a steady rate. Jamie is our resident x-ray technician. She does best at the language when she can learn a few phrases and repeat them ad nauseum. In spite of this, she is excellent at what she does, no doubt! Jamie is also one of the first people that most of our patients interact with, so with her enthusiastic ways and radiant smile, she wins them over from the get-go. We are so grateful also to have Leslie with us, first because of her recent scare with the headache-slash-surgery, but also because she is our “Jeffa” (lady-boss) of the sterilization department. A little-known fact about Leslie is that she is also the DJ of the clinic, and keeps us humming (literally) to all the catchy tunes pumping out of her little blue and sliver stereo. Lily is comic relief … j/k! She works hard doing polishing … most of the cleanings are completed with her expertise. The 3 Amigos, Joe, Isaac, and Dany, hang out and are available for whatever is needed at the time. Dany does the bulk of the translating for the clinic, and knows more about dental procedures than your typical 11-year-old. I, Dena am extremely happy filling my role as support person for the team. My common summons these days .. “Dena, I need some suction!” and I hop-to! ;) I now pause in the writing of this blog to respond to the call …
The schedule worked out like a dream. Jamie and Zelina were a welcome sight bringing snacks around noon, and we rotated through taking short breaks in between fillings and cleanings. The gusts wind that had bombarded us in the morning abated later in the day to an occasional pleasant breeze. We were able to see some of the De Hoyos family in the clinic this day too, which is great because they are the ones that do all the work to bring us down and host us. Here’s a shout-out to our Mexican family! We love you guys!
It was a full day of work, but the time slipped by quickly until it was time to say, “Adios” until the mañana. Those of us who still had energy to burn went on a run. We had a good time of fellowship in the evening, walking under the stars, talking about life, and playing sequence until we could barely keep our eyelids propped open.
Monday, October 20, 2008
Sunday, October 19th, 2008
After the long trip and visiting with the De Hoyos into the wee hours, we were grateful for the opportunity to be able to sleep. 10:30 AM brought many wonderful saints, both familiar faces and new as they gathered for church at the De Hoyo’s home. We didn’t use the new building mainly due to the inconvenience of the bathroom being so far away. The church building itself is finished, but it is an open building with no amenities as of yet.
We sang and played instruments. Jamie amused those gathered as she accompanied on her homemade maraca constructed out of rice and a film container. You can take the instrument away from the musician, but you can’t take the musician out of the musician!! Or something like that :P Next, dad shared about being “normal” using the illustration of Leslie and Joe’s miraculous health issues. We all appear normal on the outside, but it’s what God does for the believer on the inside that really counts. He also spoke that for a believer, God does not promise an easier or better life free of complications. Life for a Christian isn’t problem-free, but Christ is with the believer and promises to help them through any difficulties, and also that the trials will be for their ultimate benefit. Mr. De Hoyos continued the service in Spanish. I caught some of the illustrations and some familiar Spanish words, but mostly just enjoyed the corporate gathering of the saints.
Naps, walks, and talks were the order of the afternoon. It was a beautiful and warm sunny day, and we took full advantage of the weather and the unscheduled time.
At about 5 PM, we gathered at the church building to clean it up a bit in preparation for clinic set-up the following morning. Sweeping, shoveling piles of concrete, and hacking weeds with machetes…
we were a busy crew of workers!
Although the work was tough, it wasn’t drudgery. We managed to find a bit of fun along the way!
Dinner was a type of flattened, breaded chicken called, “milanesa.” Much to our chagrin, we discovered half way through dinner prep that the tank of propane was just about empty. Kriss and I (Dena) grabbed some pans and oil and drove over to the neighbors (God bless the Martinez’s!) to cook our dinner. I think we were bad luck though, because we hadn’t even finished cooking the first pan of chicken when the flame went out on the stove. The Martinez’s had run out of gas as well!! Mr. Martinez ran to buy some propane, while we visited with Marcella, their oldest daughter. Dinner was done eventually though, and it was delicious!
While at the Martinez’s watching as Marcella expertly cooked the chicken … whoops! Did I let that out??? ;) Kriss told me that as we drove up on Saturday night, they were doing karaoke with Marcella and Alejandro Martinez. They hooked up the computer to the guitar amp and played youtube videos with the words. It was so fun, that they wanted to do it again with us. Dickmar did his convincing (although a bit more treble) version of Johnny Cash’s “Ring of Fire.”
It was an instant hit … well, sort of . :P
Jamie and I took a midnight walk to look at the stars. She brought Mona, Kriss’ adorable boxer puppy wrapped in her sweatshirt, and we had a fun time catching up. What a gorgeous creation God made for us to enjoy!!
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Saturday, October 18th, 2008
One of the things I love about staying at a hotel is to be able to use the fitness equipment. You don’t have to drive anywhere, and many times it’s better than what I normally use…many times it’s not but we won’t go there right now… I think I might have inherited this preference from my dad, but I like to get up early and exercise first thing in the morning. Since we weren’t at the same hotel, we weren’t able to do this together, but I performed my little exercise ritual at 6AM while everyone was still soundly sleeping. What a way to start the day!
Walked in the sunshine over to La Quinta to catch a ride with dad to Capps, the rental place. I always like riding with dad. We have good conversations usually, especially in the morning when he’s at his best. :P When we finished loading the van, which smelled faintly of carpet cleaner, with the luggage and newly-bought Walmart loot …, we hit the road towards Monterrey. After the obligatory Starbucks of course!!
Dad led devotions as we drove, all about the Kingdom of Heaven. How does the Kingdom of Heaven differ from the one here on earth? Good questions to ponder as we prepared to bring the good news of the Kingdom to Mexico. I smiled as we prayed…wondering if the trip across the border would be as eventful as our flying experiences the day before.
We stopped at the border…and just in time too! Jamie had made the announcement “Okay, everyone! Drink your water, we are a half-hour away!” Unfortunately, we didn’t get the memo that the last 10 minutes of driving were over very lurching roads! As we girls encouraged dad to drive for all he was worth, I couldn’t help but think about poor Joby … he had no idea what he was getting into when he agreed to travel with the Conzattis!
I guess they passed a new law in January of this year. You can only use the visas for one entry, and you MUST turn them in when you cross back over into the United States. Rats! No more saving money by getting two trips out of one visa! It also took considerably longer to process and pay for all of our visas, but fortunately we were first in line. We never know for sure either if the bank is going to be open or closed. Today it was closed. No worries though! I got to practice some translating work with our visa person, which was really fun!
Jamie read Patrick Mc Manus to us as we drove. Fun times! We arrived in Monterrey with still enough light to navigate us to Costco for some last needed supplies for the week. Dinner was deferred in favor of reaching our destination…let’s get to Hualahuises!!! “Barn door” instinct was kicking in by this point I think.
We arrived to hugs and rejoicing. The DeHoyos couldn’t believe how well Leslie looked. In fact, she is so much back to normal that we almost forget that she just came out of brain surgery on Monday! We circled around, thanking God for our safe trip and for all the things he is going to accomplish during our time here.
Walked in the sunshine over to La Quinta to catch a ride with dad to Capps, the rental place. I always like riding with dad. We have good conversations usually, especially in the morning when he’s at his best. :P When we finished loading the van, which smelled faintly of carpet cleaner, with the luggage and newly-bought Walmart loot …, we hit the road towards Monterrey. After the obligatory Starbucks of course!!
Dad led devotions as we drove, all about the Kingdom of Heaven. How does the Kingdom of Heaven differ from the one here on earth? Good questions to ponder as we prepared to bring the good news of the Kingdom to Mexico. I smiled as we prayed…wondering if the trip across the border would be as eventful as our flying experiences the day before.
We stopped at the border…and just in time too! Jamie had made the announcement “Okay, everyone! Drink your water, we are a half-hour away!” Unfortunately, we didn’t get the memo that the last 10 minutes of driving were over very lurching roads! As we girls encouraged dad to drive for all he was worth, I couldn’t help but think about poor Joby … he had no idea what he was getting into when he agreed to travel with the Conzattis!
I guess they passed a new law in January of this year. You can only use the visas for one entry, and you MUST turn them in when you cross back over into the United States. Rats! No more saving money by getting two trips out of one visa! It also took considerably longer to process and pay for all of our visas, but fortunately we were first in line. We never know for sure either if the bank is going to be open or closed. Today it was closed. No worries though! I got to practice some translating work with our visa person, which was really fun!
Jamie read Patrick Mc Manus to us as we drove. Fun times! We arrived in Monterrey with still enough light to navigate us to Costco for some last needed supplies for the week. Dinner was deferred in favor of reaching our destination…let’s get to Hualahuises!!! “Barn door” instinct was kicking in by this point I think.
We arrived to hugs and rejoicing. The DeHoyos couldn’t believe how well Leslie looked. In fact, she is so much back to normal that we almost forget that she just came out of brain surgery on Monday! We circled around, thanking God for our safe trip and for all the things he is going to accomplish during our time here.
Friday, October 17, 2008
3:30 AM … alarm goes off. Being an early riser, I felt a surge of adrenaline rush through me as I realized we were close to heading out. I headed for the house…yep, I spent the night in the trailer due to the inevitable late-night packers. Praise the Lord, I had a great nights sleep!
4:30 AM … out faithful and beloved chauffers arrive to drive us to the airport. Lively and happy conversation ensued the whole way as we recounted experiences from past trips, and the random home video memories. Paula, as she is prone to do, anxiously worried that she had left behind something big. “Paula, you don’t need to worry about leaving anything. You have Joby!”
5:17 AM … construction at the airport delayed our arrival just long enough to cause us to miss the 45 minute cutoff for check in. “I’m sorry, but you all have to get into this other line.” We were going to be put on standby for alternate flights. Fortunately, due to added fees on checked bags, we were only checking 5 bags instead of our usual 13. You could feel the tension mount as we all tried unsuccessfully not to plague dad with questions. Suddenly Jamie got a bright idea. “Didn’t dad check us in online last night? Why don’t some of us just go ahead through with our carry-ons?” So Dena, Lily, Jamie, and a reluctant Isaac (“but Joe has all our stuff in his bag!”) rushed off to the security line to try to make the flight.
5:43 AM … we made it to the gate just in time to board. Texting back and forth, all we knew by the time we took off is that the rest of our family had made it to the ticket counter and were working to get on a standby list. The flight passed uneventfully as we all drifted off to sleep.
8:38 AM … San Francisco, CA. What a great airport!! We were welcomed to a Peet’s coffee as we departed the jetway into the terminal. ☺ Happy times! We found our gate (and some breakfast for Isaac, who had consumed nothing but a can of coke all morning!) Leslie and Joe joined us an hour or so later. Dad still had the boarding passes to our connecting flight, so we presumed upon a friendly ticket agent, Mr. Randall Kowock, to reprint them all. “Another Conzatti! What is this?” ;)
12:49 PM … A full day already, and it’s only half way done! As we boarded the plane, a friendly stewardess asked, “Is that a violin?” Affirmative! She was really friendly! A funny story was when she was asking Isaac questions as he was waiting for the bathroom. I guess he was feeling cornered or something, but he kept on backing up into the bathroom, hoping she would take a hint. (?) When she heard we had a sister who was engaged. She and another stewardess culled all the bridal magazines from the airplane to give us as we left. God provided bright spots in what could have otherwise been a frustrating flying experience.
5:20 PM … San Antonio, CA. Our group came in first, so we picked up all the bags and called the shuttle. “One check bag and your carryons, guys!” Our shuttle driver was a Christian, and he blessed us and told us he’d be praying for our trip. We hadn’t been in the lobby for more than 10 minutes (the hotel was making us wait for dad) when the other group texted to say they had landed. Perfect timing in spite of everything! We unpacked at Best Western, and Mom and dad walked next door to La Quinta. (We had reservations at two hotels because we had canceled a room back when we didn’t think Mom and Leslie were coming.)
8:00 PM (or thereabouts…) … we arrived at the Quarry, an upscale shopping center down the street from our hotels. Thank heaven for Chilis!! We were hungry! Two good friends, Micah Cavenaugh and Aaron Dodson joined us. Fun times! After stocking up on enough health foods to feed a small army (for Cristina) we walked around enjoying the warm Texas evening.
12:00 PM … Jamie and I worked out at the hotel gym. Yay us! :P Now time for sleep!
4:30 AM … out faithful and beloved chauffers arrive to drive us to the airport. Lively and happy conversation ensued the whole way as we recounted experiences from past trips, and the random home video memories. Paula, as she is prone to do, anxiously worried that she had left behind something big. “Paula, you don’t need to worry about leaving anything. You have Joby!”
5:17 AM … construction at the airport delayed our arrival just long enough to cause us to miss the 45 minute cutoff for check in. “I’m sorry, but you all have to get into this other line.” We were going to be put on standby for alternate flights. Fortunately, due to added fees on checked bags, we were only checking 5 bags instead of our usual 13. You could feel the tension mount as we all tried unsuccessfully not to plague dad with questions. Suddenly Jamie got a bright idea. “Didn’t dad check us in online last night? Why don’t some of us just go ahead through with our carry-ons?” So Dena, Lily, Jamie, and a reluctant Isaac (“but Joe has all our stuff in his bag!”) rushed off to the security line to try to make the flight.
5:43 AM … we made it to the gate just in time to board. Texting back and forth, all we knew by the time we took off is that the rest of our family had made it to the ticket counter and were working to get on a standby list. The flight passed uneventfully as we all drifted off to sleep.
8:38 AM … San Francisco, CA. What a great airport!! We were welcomed to a Peet’s coffee as we departed the jetway into the terminal. ☺ Happy times! We found our gate (and some breakfast for Isaac, who had consumed nothing but a can of coke all morning!) Leslie and Joe joined us an hour or so later. Dad still had the boarding passes to our connecting flight, so we presumed upon a friendly ticket agent, Mr. Randall Kowock, to reprint them all. “Another Conzatti! What is this?” ;)
12:49 PM … A full day already, and it’s only half way done! As we boarded the plane, a friendly stewardess asked, “Is that a violin?” Affirmative! She was really friendly! A funny story was when she was asking Isaac questions as he was waiting for the bathroom. I guess he was feeling cornered or something, but he kept on backing up into the bathroom, hoping she would take a hint. (?) When she heard we had a sister who was engaged. She and another stewardess culled all the bridal magazines from the airplane to give us as we left. God provided bright spots in what could have otherwise been a frustrating flying experience.
5:20 PM … San Antonio, CA. Our group came in first, so we picked up all the bags and called the shuttle. “One check bag and your carryons, guys!” Our shuttle driver was a Christian, and he blessed us and told us he’d be praying for our trip. We hadn’t been in the lobby for more than 10 minutes (the hotel was making us wait for dad) when the other group texted to say they had landed. Perfect timing in spite of everything! We unpacked at Best Western, and Mom and dad walked next door to La Quinta. (We had reservations at two hotels because we had canceled a room back when we didn’t think Mom and Leslie were coming.)
8:00 PM (or thereabouts…) … we arrived at the Quarry, an upscale shopping center down the street from our hotels. Thank heaven for Chilis!! We were hungry! Two good friends, Micah Cavenaugh and Aaron Dodson joined us. Fun times! After stocking up on enough health foods to feed a small army (for Cristina) we walked around enjoying the warm Texas evening.
12:00 PM … Jamie and I worked out at the hotel gym. Yay us! :P Now time for sleep!
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